Your comprehensive resource to answer your questions about the hCG diet protocol.
I highly encourage doing your research before embarking on this HCG protocol. This page is a work in progress guys…..just so you know there is MUCH more to come.
Please also see my HCG HOW TO section for video and blog posts on this topic.
General hCG Diet Questions
What Medications, Vitamins or Supplements Should I Avoid on hCG?
Wondering if you thought the hcg shots help or is the weight loss from eating less calories. Is there any value in taking the hcg shots if I don’t stay on a 500 calorie diet.
I am on my 1st round of hCGand day 3 of the vlcd. I weighed this morning and had lost weight but this afternoon I had a 2 pound weight gain!
Actually it’s a common mistake, but you only want to weigh yourself in the morning. If you simply drink a 16 oz. glass of water, you will weigh a pound more on the scale immediately. So with food and drink throughout the day and fluctuating fluid levels you will always weight several more lbs on the scale later in the day than in the morning.
So just weigh in the mornings only and stay off that scale otherwise so it doesn’t mess with your head!
I couldn’t even tell my husband. He is so against me dieting/losing weight.
This can be tough. While there are many people we do not need to tell about what we’re doing, it’s nice to be able to include family in what we’re doing, one cuz they’re family, two, because they can be a source of support (sometimes), and three, it’s rather hard to hide something like that from the people you eat with every day.
So what do you do in a situation like this where someone close to you is really against the idea?
I don’t know if this will help, but perhaps showing the logic behind it – even perhaps written out, could help. I have gone to great lengths now to try to prove that this protocol is NOT a starvation diet and is not stripping every last bit of muscle off your body.
A few sources from my blog that demonstrate some proof that skeptical family members might find useful:
My bodyfat testing:
Before hCG, After finishing hCG, and 2 years after finishing hCG. It’s clear from these hydrostatic body fat tests, which is a very clear, accurate, reliable way to test body fat that body builders and other fitness enthusiasts use to track their progress, that not only was the majority of my weight loss fat, I have a healthy amount of muscle mass for my height (5’1″) and this combined with the fact that I have maintained this for what was at that time, 2 years, shows that my metabolism wasn’t not hampered negatively.
My post on 5 common misconceptions about the hCG Diet.
The argument for hormones. hCG is a hormone. Just like the hormones in birth control are powerful enough to prevent conception, hCG is not a placebo.
I realize that sometimes if a person is not in the mood to believe something, it doesn’t matter how logical you are, they’re just going to think what they want to think. But perhaps for some, this type of proof might be convincing.
There are probably various reasons that people don’t like the idea of this protocol. Some have something against accomplishing something faster than the traditional way. But if the weight being lost is indeed fat, and ability to maintain is there shown by others, why would accomplishing something in a more efficient manner be a bad thing? Washing machine? Why yes! I’d love one. Don’t got time for the clothesline in twenty-fifteen. Times have changed and our lives are hectic, busy and stressful. It makes sense to be efficient where we can, so that we can use our time for other things that can’t be rushed- like family time! ?
Watch Miriandra’s Full Interview here
– Share the benefits to hubby.
If I still have HCG because of dosage adjustments can I keep going after 40 days?
You can, however there are some things to consider when deciding this – I have some more comprehensive info on this topic here for ya: Doing hCG for longer periods of time and other such stuff.
Did you have any areas that were hard to loose? Butt, hips?
This is a goody! You know, it doesn’t necessarily seem hard to lose fat where you need to so much as you don’t have control over the ORDER of the places you lose weight from, and this order seems to vary from person to person, probably due to genetics and maybe hormone levels as well. What I will say though is that overall, people using the hCG hormone seem to lose weight all over their body which means that they gradually shrink into this super balance looking body. If that sounds confusing, what I mean to say is that you are going to be losing inches on places like your neck and your knees too – not just your waist and hips. In the short term, this can mean you THINK you’re not getting super visible results ie. like your hips shrinking by 20 inches in one round while the rest of you stays the same size, but in the end, you really do want to have a balanced overall shape, and I think hCG accomplishes this.
What is hCG 2.0?
You can check out the book on this here: hCG 2.0 modified protocol – the one thing I will say is this modified protocol allows the use of some foods that I’m not sure about when it comes to Phase 2 like beans for a protein source, which are high carb – not saying it wouldn’t work since I don’t know, but it’s something I myself would probably wait and see how it fared with others before trying myself. Maybe I should get the author of that book on the blog to interview him sometime eh??
What are your thoughts on eating only proteins to break stalls during p2?
I think this can be good – you still want to probably make sure you are eating enough calories of course and whether that’s with additional protein or leaving your Phase 2 vegetables in, that’s your call, but you could try both ways.
Can I Stay on hCG During Phase 3 and 4? Will that help me continue to lose weight?
Actually, hCG really only works in conjunction with the very low calorie diet and no fats or oils in your diet.
The hormone makes you body very sensitive to fats, carbs, and a regular calorie intake- meaning any of these things can cause abnormal weight gain that wouldn’t occur if you were not taking the hCG hormone.
So all that is to say that it’s very important to only take hCG when you are actually on Phase 2. To take it at other times would actually not only not help with weight loss, it would likely cause abnormal weight gain.
When Is the Best Time to Start the hCG Diet?
There are a couple answers here.
1. After TOM: For women in particular, it’s ideal to start the hCG Diet immediately following what we in the hCG community on youtube call “TOM” (time of the month). This is not a rule, but in general, it is wise to plan your round in this manner if at all possible. This is because cravings and hunger tend to increase around this time which can make the diet a little more difficult for a couple days, and it’s better to get a good portion of the diet under your belt and have lost a significant amount of weight before dealing with the mental and emotional roller coaster that TOM can sometimes put us ladies through. The hCG Diet is certainly strict, and you will find it easier to deal with difficulties on the diet later after you’ve done well for awhile and seen yourself lose a lot of weight. If you were to deal with TOM only a few days into the protocol, you may find yourself wavering or wanting to give up.
2. After/In Between Large Social Events: As I mentioned above, the hCG Diet is not easy folks. You will lose weight oh so quickly, certainly. But it is very strict in every sense of the word, so in order to place yourself in the best situation to complete the diet successfully without being too tempted to cheat or give up, it’s ideal to clear the social calendar while on the diet. If you a number of big parties to go to, party on at them all, then start the hCG Diet when things have settled down. Perhaps you could do your loading at the last party. 😉
Obviously, you don’t have to do either of these things, they are merely suggestions that may make your time on the diet more manageable, especially if it’s your first time and you’re not a seasoned “hCGer” yet.
What do you think of such-an-such brand of hCG drops?
Can you take a look at the ingredients on your bottle of hCG drops? There are basically three types of “hCG” out there now.
1. Prescription hCG – the real hormone
2. Homeopathic hCG – if it’s true homeopathic hCG it will contain something like “hCG – 10x, 30x, 60x, etc type numbers)
3. hCG Activator products – these do not contain any hCG at all, but contain amino acids. It’s claimed these these amino acids cause your body to make hCG. I do not know if I believe this at this point you guys. I like to keep an open mind.
When it comes down to it, my personal choice is that I really only feel comfortable using prescription hCG, the real hormone. One example given to me was the question, “would you feel comfortable taking homeopathic birth control?” Hmmm. Hormones are powerful! I do not think the hCG hormone is a placebo so, so the muscle sparing effects that hCG seems to create in the presence of such a low calorie diet is very important to me. However, I have to admit that I have seen some great results with homeopathic hCG as well, so I can’t knock it completely, and some choose to go this route and feel completely comfortable with it. I have not seen enough feedback from these hCG activator products (that don’t contain hCG) to feel comfortable recommending them at this time. The truth is, anyone will lose weight on a 500 calorie, regardless of taking any supplement or hormone.
The questions are:
1. how much of that weight loss is fat vs. muscle,
2. how is your hunger while ON the diet itself, and
3. how will the diet effect your metabolism during and after the diet (and thus ability to maintain)?
To me the hCG hormone is what kind of guarantees a positive answer to these questions, whereas I do not have proof of such with the other hCG type products at this time. The others MAY work, I just can’t be sure, and I feel best sticking with what I know can be relied on since I only have one body and no time for do-overs.
The current sources for real prescription hCG that I feel comfortable recommending, if you end up choosing to go that route, can be found here: https://hcgchica.com/buy-hcg-injections-worldwide/
And all my tutorials for injections are here to help you with mixing and injecting!: https://hcgchica.com/hcg-injections-tutorials/
Non-hormone hCG- how do you feel about it?
Wow great question! A visitor submitted this one.
In short, I would not personally use it on my own body. hCG is a hormone, so non-hormone hCG is simply not hCG.
The two things I believe in 100%- real prescription RX hCG, and REAL homeopathic hCG. I have used only hCG Injections myself and it’s probably what I’ll stick with forever and always, but true homeopathic hCG, from my observation has accomplished the same results as far as fat loss and ability to maintain the weightloss as well. I don’t think that homeopathic is necessarily for everyone, but for some who are very sensitive to the energy of things around them, I think it’s excellent. But beware- there are many fake homeopathic hCG preparations out there. One of the only ones I currently feel comfortable recommending is hcgbottle.com. The hCG Injections I have used has been from the 2 companies I compare on my buy hCG page.
That brings us back to complete and utter non-hormone hCG– which unfortunately is not hCG at all- as far as I know these are preparations have ingredients like the following: L- Ornithine L-Carnitine, L-Arginine, L-Glutamine, Maca,Niacin, Pygeum,Africanum, Beta-Alinine, Rhodiola, Astragalus. The first few are just amino acids- many of which body builders take while working out etc. to help with muscle recovery, muscle enlargement, etc. And I don’t actually know much about the latter ingredients- some are good for the adrenal glands, etc. etc.- but all in all the end result is that you will not have any hCG in your body going on at all.
You have the right to do whatever you choose to do, and I respect whatever decision you make- but the way that I look at it is, I only have one body. For me, it’s not worth the risk of both harming my body and hormone balance AND not getting the long lasting results I could have gotten- I don’t have time or energy to waste. I have done enough research on real hCG to know that it really works, and now of course have experienced the life change it brought me. But the non-hormone hCG is basically just like taking some herbal supplements- unfortunately it is not going to have the same effect of real hCG at all. I’m sorry if I burst anyone’s happy bubble. 🙁
Sometimes the reason people consider trying something like non-hormone hCG, or a cheap “homeopathic” hCG that is not really homeopathic hCG is because of cost. And I understand that some of us are really strapped for cash in this economy- but it would be better to wait and save a little and do real hCG in a couple months, than to buy something cheap and ineffective and start now– does that sound reasonable?
How many days do you go between hCG rounds? (ie how long a break do you take?)
After every round of hCG where you finish Phase 2 (the losing weight part), you always do 3 weeks of Phase 3- during this period you are eating a more normal amount of calories (don’t ask me how many- there isn’t an exact number- it’s more about eating to hunger) just no starches and sugars.
The original protocol that Dr. Simeons wrote in Pounds and Inches regarding the timing of the breaks was as follows:
6 week break between Round 1 and 2
8 week break between Round 2 and 3
10 week break between Round 3 and 4
etc…..just keeping adding 2 more weeks. So you see the breaks becoming successively longer with each round.
Does everyone do this? No. There may be good reason to do some rounds closer together, but more often than not, I find that those who take the proper breaks are the ones who succeed in the long term.
There are a couple reasons for this. One, fast weightloss can be a bit of a strain on the body- the breaks allow your body to re-group and stay balanced. Additionally, the hCG protocol is not just about weightloss. It’s about learning how to eat so you can maintain that weightloss. Phase 3 and the breaks between your rounds of hCG are really part of getting new patterns ingrained in your lifestyle.
Do I have to eat the full 500 calories on the hCG Diet?
I will quote what Dr. Simeons said in his book pounds and inches here: “Those not uncommon patients who feel that even so little food is too much for them, can omit anything they wish.”
So in short, no.
However- do keep in mind, do not get carried away with this- you should eat to hunger which means if you are truly not hungry for 500 calories in a day while on hCG, and you end up eating say 300-400 calories instead some days, so be it. However, if you are technically hungry but purposefully trying to eat less than the 500 calories in an effort to lose more weight, this is not a proper way to view things (as I’m sure you’ll agree). Sometimes we can find excuses for ourselves to try to get quicker results in the short-term but we need to remember that it’s long term health that we should be concerned with.
Myself? The amount of calories I eat varies. I don’t actually weigh/count anything but the protein as Dr. Simeons instructed, however, just to get an idea, some days I’ll plug in basic amounts of what I ate into myfitnesspal just to check. What I find is that many days on the hCG protocol I’m so not hungry, especially at the beginning, that I only find myself eating 300-400 calories in a day. Other days I find myself needing not only the full 500 but sometimes even close to 600 calories, so that’s what I eat.
My hydrostatic body fat testing has shown that eating under the 500 calories when my hunger dictates has not been a problem for me- meaning I did not lose excessive amounts of muscle doing this, and I’ve kept off my fat loss from hCG very comfortably since then as well.
So if you let hunger be your guide, as Robin Woodall so wonderfully explained in her book Weightloss Apocalypse, you will get the best weight loss in the healthiest way out of the hCG Diet protocol.
How often do I take hCG when on the hCG Diet?
If you are doing hCG injections, you will inject just once daily, usually in the morning after you get up.
If you are taking hCG drops (aka sublingual hCG) you will be taking your hCG drops twice daily, once in the morning and once in the later afternoon/evening.
If you are taking homeopathic hCG, you will be following the directions of whatever company you bought your homeopathic hCG from- in most cases it appears that you will take homeopathic drops or pellets 3-4x’s times daily.
How Long Should You Be On the hCG Diet?
The original protocol that Dr. Simeons wrote using the hCG hormone had his patients do what we online like to call “rounds” of hCG- that lasted either for 23 injections or 40 injections (2 of the injections would be used while loading, so this would mean that actual days on the VLCD, losing weight, would be 21 days or 38 days). As you can see this is approximately 3 or 6 weeks.
These days, the majority of people seem to do varying numbers of days on the hCG diet, and in general, this doesn’t seem to harm anything. I have done rounds lasting 42 days, 38 days, 41 days, and 21 days. As far as I can tell so far, I have not seen adding or taking away days on the protocol to hurt stabilization of weightloss later.
Can you go longer than the recommended maximum number of 4o injections?
I have seen quite a few stay on the hCG Diet for more like 50-60 days without ill effect. Still, it would be advisable to be cautious and listen to your body. If you are feeling great on day 40 and feel like you could easily go one more week, it may be just fine and you’ll get that much more accomplished out of that round of hCG. But if you are feeling very tired and weak on day 40, this may be a good signal that it’s time to stop and give your body a rest. Losing so much fat in such a short period of time isn’t easy after all you know! Our bodies are all in different states of health when we begin the hCG protocol, and we want to respect our body and how it’s feeling. Just because someone else has done it doesn’t mean it’s the right decision for our body. Base it on how you feel your health is doing, not the tempting special numerical weight you have in your head that you see as the “magic number” you want to get to. Be smart about it and you will get to your magic number soon enough.
Is hCG meant for long term use?
No it is not. The hCG diet protocol is not meant for long term use. It is designed to be used for short periods of time, usually a period of just 3 to 6 weeks, to lose a substantial amount of fat in a short period of time, whereafter individuals get off the hCG hormone and resume eating a normal caloric intake for their size.
hCG Injections vs. Drops- which is better?
I don’t feel that there is enough information to be dogmatic about this topic, so I will share just a few key points to think about to help you make your own personal decision regarding this. We’ll discuss why hCG Injections are the best form to use for the hCG Diet, the case against rx hCG Drops, but why I personally do not dismiss rx hCG Drops entirely despite this.
The final deciding factor for me is:
How sure do you want to be?
I figure I only have one body (count it, 1, uno), so I’m going to do what I can be positive of will produce the results I desire. I don’t have another body, nor the time, mental or emotional strength to risk screwing it up and re-doing it (not that I’ve never screwed up on hCG, but you know what I mean!)
hCG Injections- Why I feel they are a superior form of hCG Delivery
The nice thing about hCG injections and the reason I personally stick with them is:
- You can be 100% sure that you getting the exact therapeutic dose of hCG that you are supposed to get- there is no room for lost hCG due to not holding it under your tongue long enough or swallowing too much of it where it’s simply destroyed by stomach acids. I want to be SURE.
- You don’t have to be concerned about the size of the hCG particles, etc. because you are injecting the hormone, therefore it WILL be in your bloodstream, in the proper amount, doing what it’s supposed to do with no questions. Even those who claim hCG doesn’t work won’t deny that hCG IS a hormone and that you can inject it and then see measurable hCG hormone levels in the blood. I want to be SURE.
- All the hydrostatic and DEXA scan body fat testing that has been done on hCG dieters (that I’ve seen anyway) that shows a higher percentage of fat loss has been on those using hCG injections. I want to be SURE.
The Case Against Rx Drops/Sublingual hCG
Some of the articles online have stated that the hCG particles themselve are too large to be taken sublingually- that the hCG cannot be absorbed by the oral mucosa, thus is not a reliable method of hCG delivery. This could mean you may find yourself doing the hCG diet without any real hCG present in your system, which obviously is something you wouldn’t want, since hCG really isn’t a placebo.
Articles worth reading related to this are here:
http://deepdownwellness.com/ddw/?p=354 In his article, one important thing he states is that, “There are no published reports that have been able to demonstrate a measurable amount of HCG in a person’s blood when given in either oral or sublingual forms.
Www.hcgobesity.org contains information regarding a double blind study that D. Belluscio did using oral hCG. He actually claims based on the results that the oral hCG was effective, however, it was also noted that, “on treatment days 0, 15 and 30 we have tested all volunteers, screening for the presence of plasmatic b-hCG. Concentrations were undetectable in all cases (data not shown).” So basically, no hCG was actually detected in the subject’s bloodstream while taking sublingual hCG. So no hCG was found in the subjects, therefore, the patients didn’t absorb any of the hCG right?
For those who do believe in the use and effectiveness of oral hCG, it IS definitely known with surety that not nearly as much hCG is absorbed by the body (if at all) by this method, thus the reason that you must take 2-3x’s as much hCG in the sublingual form than in the injection form. For instance, I inject 125ius of hCG by injection and feel no hunger. An oral hCG rx drops user must place 332iu’s of hCG per day total in order to experience the same hunger free state. That’s 2.5x’s as much hCG being needed.
Why I Still Can’t Dismiss Oral hCG Completely
Because I’ve seen it work in real people! I may not have all the scientific proof to back up a statement that, “yes, oral hCG works”, and maybe there is “proof” that “oral hCG cannot be absorbed.” But you know what? I have also seen supposed “proof” that hCG doesn’t work at all for weightloss. And yet I have my own concrete proof that hCG does work for weightloss, and there is no medical document, study, or person with Phd or Md at the end his/her name who could ever convince me otherwise- because I have experienced and proved through reliable testing that I have lost a huge amount of fat through the use of the hCG hormone- almost 40lbs worth now in fact. Of FAT. 40 lbs of FAT. Moving on…..
Why you can’t always trust supposed “proof”
It can be difficult to read through all the material online claiming A and B is proof of X and Y. Why? Because there are so many factors that go into making a piece of information true proof, and there may easily be things that were glossed over, or not mentioned, or not considered, etc.
So yes I’ve read the hCG particle are too large to absorb- but what do I then do with the many people I’ve actually SEEN lose weight well while using oral hCG, feel not hungry, keep the weight off, and they look fantastic (ie. it’s obvious they didn’t starve away mostly muscle by seeing how well balanced the form of their body looks). Our eyes often can tell us the truth about a matter, whereas the written word can be twisted by others to deceive us to meet someone else’s ends.
Real results/real people has merit
In the end I find myself most often taking real-world real-people results over supposed “medical facts.”
This is not to say that I don’t believe in proof. Certainly not- but it has to be REAL proof. For instance, when I have my body fat tested hydrostatically before and after doing the hCG diet, and it shows that I lost 80% fat, to me that is true proof of something. Would I have lost that much fat had I not been using the hCG hormone? I’m almost 100% sure not. But then again, I’ve never tried to live on 500 calories without hCG and then had my body fat tested either. I suppose that would be the ultimate proof.
100% Sure = hCGChica Uses Only hCG Injections
All this said, I personally choose to stick with hCG Injections. Why? Because I want to be sure of my results. Like I said in the beginning, I only have 1 body folks! I don’t want to mess with chances that are too high. It is known that hCG is definitely not absorbed as well orally and that is why double the amount, sometimes triple the amount of hCG has to be taken when used in sublingual form because IF the hCG gets absorbed, it’s only a small fraction. Everyone in the hCG community acknowledges this. I don’t like to put that much to chance when my body, my health, and my resulting capabilities in life are on the line.
I was afraid of injections when I first considered doing the hCG diet plan too. I had no intention of doing them. But guess what? It turns out they didn’t hurt at all! I promise. It’s more of a mental thing than anything else.
For those who just can’t get past the injection issue, you are a free agent- you should be able to do whatever you want on this topic without judgment.
Here’s what other hCGers have to say about hCG Injections VS Drops:
Watch Bonnie’s Full Interview here
Watch Casey’s Full Interview here
Watch Lisa’s Full Interview here
Watch Denise’s Full Interview here
Watch Heather’s Full Interview here
Watch Pamela’s Full Interview here
Watch Teresa’s Full Interview here
Watch Helen’s Full Interview here